The Countdown is On – and Goals for Disney!

I can’t believe it…..after months and months of training my FIRST marathon is almost here.  Only 9 more days to the Walt Disney World Marathon – GULP. 

Jack is cool, calm and collected...he's not worried a bit.

I am nervous.  I have a million things running through my head:  Did I train hard enough, what will the weather be like, what if my plane is delayed and I can’t make it, getting up at 1am for a race is INSANE – I’ll be exhausted before it starts, what if I cramp up, what if I can’t finish, what if I get sick???????…….all these crazy thoughts.  Michael - JUST BREATHE!

So I thought I needed to put together some goals to help calm my nerves.  My A, B, C Goals…..basically what I MUST do, what I would LIKE to do, and what I would LOVE to do. 

Walt Disney World Marathon Goals

A Goals

Finish my first marathon

Have fun and enjoy every step of the experience

Spend quality time with my husband and girlfriends

Pace myself, don’t start too fast

B Goals

Finish in less than 6 hours

Finish with a smile on my face

Get great race pictures

Finish with no new injuries

Finish strong

C Goals

Finish between 5:45 and 5:59 (or below…but not gonna happen)

Do a cartwheel across the finish line – NO this isn’t serious….I couldn’t do a cartwheel without running 26.2, but it would make for a fun picture

Be able to walk the next day

So what do you think?  Any “goals” I should add?  Any advice from your first marathons?  I’m going to give myself an ulcer if I don’t stop stressing about this race.  Help ME J

2012 Races and Goals

I have never actually sat down before and developed fitness goals.  I've set a few in my head before, but this is the first time I've put it on "paper".  It's kind of exciting and makes things seems a little more real.  It will be fun to look back at the end of next year and see how I did!

Goals for 2012

Complete first marathon

Complete first Olympic Distance Tri (Hy-vee Triathlon – Take II)

Complete first Half Ironman

Finish a half marathon in under 2:30

Participate in at least one organized event every month

Run at least 13 miles once per month

Run a 5K with an average pace in the 10s

Log 1200 running miles

2012 Tenative Race Schedule

Jan 8 – Walt Disney World Marathon, Orlando, FL (first marathon)

Feb 8 – Buffalo Run 5K Trail Run, Parkville, MO (first trail run)

Mar 4 – Little Rock Half Marathon, Little Rock, AR

Apr 14 – Rock the Parkway Half Marathon, Kansas City, MO ("A" Race - PR??)

May 6 – Flying Pig Half Marathon, Cincinnati, OH (get to see my friend Coy Martinez)

Jun 16 – Topeka Tinman Triathlon, Topeka, KS (Long Course - trial run for the 70.3)

Jul 8 – Kansas City Royals All-Star Game 5K, Kansas City, MO

Jul 15 – Ford Ironman 70.3 Racine, Racine, WI ("A" Race; first 70.3)

Aug 5 – Sunflower to Roses Bike Tour, Overland Park, KS

Sep 2 – Hyvee Triathlon, Des Moines, IA (Olympic Distance - will end up being my first technical olympic)

Oct 20 – Kansas City Half Marathon, Kansas City, MO (this is a maybe race)

Nov ?

Dec ?

I'm sure I'll add a few more races here or there.

Disclaimer:  My goals, as well as race schedule, are all 100% contingent on my shoulder.  I haven’t posted much about it lately, but I still have no idea whether or not I am going to need shoulder surgery.  In everyday life, my shoulder doesn’t cause me much pain, but I still can’t sleep on my left side without pain and it still feels extremely unstable.  Certain movements still cause pain.  I haven’t been in the pool since August, so I don’t really know what to expect.  I kind of put it out of my mind while I focused on marathon training.  I am hoping to have my ART Dr. start working on it after my marathon and see if it helps.  If it doesn’t, that will probably mean surgery and I won’t be able to do any triathlons next year.  If that happens though, I will wait until next fall to have the surgery and continue to bike and run until that point….at least that’s the plan for now.

Have you given any thought to 2012 yet?  Any new goals/races???  Tell me what you are doing.

Oh, and if you read Jim's "conversation" post today, you were probably expecting a rebuttal.  I have decided that if he is going to continue to completely fabricate conversations, I'm just going to ignore him.  Well, that's probably not really true, I just really wanted to put this post out there.......I will actually have a little something for you regarding this ridiculous "PR" beard soon.  Stay tuned...................................

Christmas Eve 20 Miler!

Saturday was my LAST long run before Disney!  So, I got up early on Christmas Eve morning and headed out.  Technically I'm supposed to be in taper and was only supposed to do 12 on Saturday and not 20, but I missed a long run when I had a sinus infection and felt like I needed to "make it up"...so I did.  I honestly think it was a good idea and will help me mentally.  And I still had 15 days of taper....I think that's more than enough. 

My training plan has had me alternating between long runs and shorter runs every other week once I hit 15 miles, so I had done 22 two weeks ago, but only 13 last week.  My 22 miler really took it out of me.  I had been sick and wasn't feeling it after about mile 3.  I had severe calf cramps at 18 that I had to fight for the last 4 miles.  I felt pretty miserable after the run...but when I was finished I still felt confident I could do the 26.2, but I just thought I would barely drag myself to the finish line.  My 20 miler this week was completely different......

I felt great, almost the entire run.  I started out feeling good, and I really felt pretty good overall until about mile 16 or 17, and even then I just started feeling pretty tired, but wasn't overly exhausted.  When I was finished I walked in and said to Jim "I just kicked that 20 miler in the A$$!!"  Pardon the language, but I was pretty excited about it.  I then took Jack for a recovery walk and put in another mile and a half for a total of 21.5 miles for the day!  It was a HUGE Confidence booster!!  I finally feel ready for Disney!

And, my overall pace for the 20 miles was 12:57 per mile, which was over 39 seconds faster per mile than my 22 miler and  even 23 seconds faster than my 19 miler!  And to make things even better, the majority of my "injury" issues seem to have subsided.  My hips and foot are feeling much better. Overall, I'm feeling pretty good........so two weeks of taper and then it's GO time!!

After my run there was lots to do to get ready for Christmas time with family.  We had a GREAT Christmas!  It was awesome to spend time with my family and just have some time to relax and unwind.  I ATE WAY TOO MUCH and need to do some major scaling back on the eating this week. 

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas too!  I'll leave you with a few pics.

Me & my beautiful niece

Jack with his new Angry Birds toy

My new running jacket - I love it!!

My awesome cow from Coy Martinez :)



Jim and our grandson Ryder with his new dump truck

If you missed my 2011 Recap, check it out here.

2011….A Mostly Great Year!

Although 2011 has brought with it quite a few injuries, I also managed to achieve quite a few accomplishments.  Here's my year in review:

Completed 19 organized events:

*   3 - Half Marathons - Oklahoma City (coldest half marathon EVER), MO' Cowbell (PR), and            Kansas City (another PR)

Me & Madi after OKC....FREEZING!!!!  Sick as a dog here!

Me & Coy after MO' Cowbell....Moooooo!

After the KC Half....Got Milk?

*    1 - 15K - Cerner 15K (first 15K so it was a PR).  During the race I PR'd in the 5K, 10K and 15K points!!  How cool!

Me & Jim after the Cerner 15K



Finish line of my first and fastest 15K



*         2 - 10Ks - Hospital Hill, The Northface Endurance Challenge (PR)

Hospital Hill 10K "Robot" pose

Northface Endurance Challenge - It was super HOT!

     
*          1 - 4 mile run - Westport 4 Miler

Luck of the Irish!

*          4 - 5Ks - Groundhog Run, Diva Dash, Corporate Challenge, Halloween Hustle

Me & Jim.  Our first underground race.  I was sick as a dog here too.

Before the Diva Dash.  Super excited.

Before the Corporate Challenge 5K.  Look how green everything was.....I miss that!

Pre-race Dance prior to the Halloween Hustle!

*    3 - Sprint Distance Triathlons - Topeka Tinman, WIN for KC Women's Tri (PR from previous year), Jackson County (huge PR from previous year)

Me & my friend Michelle with our race results at Topeka Tinman.  Our first Tri of the season.

Me & Michelle after WIN Tri......after a long rain delay, the day turned out gorgeous.

A group of friends before the Jackson Co Tri.  Future Racine 70.3 training team.

*    2 - Bike Tours - Tour De Lakes, Sunflowers to Roses

*    3 - Virtual Races - Cupcake Half Marathon (Jason @ Cook, Train, Eat, Race), the Jelly         Bean 10K (Run With Jess) , and the I Just Felt Like Running Virtual 5K (Jeff at Detroit Runner)

Trained for my first Olympic Distance Tri (sadly didn’t finish it)

Sad face at packet pick-up for my should have been race

Trained for my first marathon (will complete on Jan 8)

Completed my first ever 50 mile bike ride

The "after" pic....we made it 50 miles!!  It was the hottest day ever - around 100 degrees.

Got to be part of my stepdaughters first race ever (10K) and first half marathon and my stepsons first 5K

Madi & Jim at the Ground Hog 10K

Me & Gage being silly at the Halloween Hustle

All of us the night before OKC Half Marathon.  Who knew it would rain buckets on race day.

Got to meet and run with Coy Martinez of First in Philly

Me & Coy at Mo' Cowbell

Learned how to use Clipless Pedals

It might have taken me a couple of tries to get the hang of it.

Set new 8 PRs over the course of the year (I think)

Ran my fastest mile ever in training

Ran a 10:14 mile....not fast for you, but fast for me!

Became a Blogger

So glad I started blogging and got to know all of you!!

Got to watch my husband cross the finish line of the Boston marathon and back to back marathons

Jim almost to the finish line at Boston.  What an awesome experience.

Jim right after finishing the KC marathon - his first marathon in two days.



Jim, Me, Madi and Nate right after the Des Moines Marathon.  That makes #2

Ran, biked and swam a lot of miles.  I didn’t really start tracking this really well until about about March or so.  Bummer I don’t have exact mileage to share, but I know it was my highest mileage year to date.



I look forward to an EVEN BETTER 2012!!

Merry Christmas!!

Jim, Jack & I Wish you ALL a very Merry Christmas. 

I know many of you have seen this picture already.  I guess that's the problem when you have a spouse who blogs too.

Many people have asked if that's really our kitchen or did we super impose this image somehow.  Yes, that is really our kitchen and it is a real photo.  Jack has mad skills!!

We look forward to sharing more stories with you in 2012!  Hope everyone has a wonderful New Year!

ART Makes Me Cry

I wish I could tell you that I had recently seen the works of Michelangelo on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel or Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa in person and its beauty brought me to tears, but that is not the kind of “art” I’m talking about.  I am talking about ART – active release technique.  I’ve talked about it in my blog quite a bit over the last few months; it’s a specialized form of chiropractic medicine.  Although, very, very different from traditional chiropractic manipulation.

 

After reading about ART several times in blogs, I searched out an ART Dr. in my area for some pain I was having in both hips.  I have to say he has done wonders for me.  When I first went in I could barely walk, much less run without pain.  My hips felt locked up and out of place.  Now, for the most part I have limited hip pain.  It still comes on occasionally – like after a 22 mile run, but it doesn’t bother me day to day.  About a month ago, I remember saying to the Dr., “You know this ART stuff is not so bad.  I had heard so many times how painful it is supposed to be, but it really doesn’t hurt that bad”.  He just smiled and said, “Well sometimes it just depends on what area of the body you are working on, but also some people just have a higher tolerance for pain”.  I decided then and there that I must just be exceptionally tough.  I’m not saying it doesn’t hurt – trust me it’s not a pleasant experience, it’s just that the pain was tolerable.  And he was right, there were areas that were a little more painful, like when he worked on the adhesion in my abdomen, and he worked on my calves a few times too.  Sometimes I would have to hold my breath a few times to get through it, but it was ok.

So last week when I developed some very sudden foot pain, I called him up and asked if he thought he could help.  Well yes, of course, he was actually very good with foot pain.  So I made an appointment and went in after work on Thursday night.  My visit started with Mark, the “motion counselor” – not sure if that’s his technical title or not.  Anyway, Mark provides you some specific stretches and exercises for the area that is hurting, and also hooks you up to some giant electrodes.  I have had this done on my hip several times now, and it’s also not very pleasant – I knew the foot was going to be bad.  So he slaps one very large electrode over the heel of my right foot, and then puts a couple others in the general area and cranks up the juice.  Immediately my foot begins to tingle – it’s that pins and needles feeling you get when your foot is asleep, and then my toes start involuntarily spasming.  My big toe is waving like it has just been crowned the next Miss “Toe Jam” America.  The rest of my piggies are also doing a little dance of their own.  Let me tell you – when your body parts are moving involuntarily – it is not a fun time.  This lasts for about 10 minutes and then finally I am done and ready to see the Dr…..man I’m glad that’s over.

Dr. Black works on my hip for a few minutes first…ah not so bad.  Then he does a little work on the calf…hurts but I’m getting through it just fine.  Then he starts in on my foot.  HOLY crap – that hurts!  I begin to breathe in and out like I’m in labor.  Before I know it I’m yelling out “OHHHHH Kelly Clarkson” like Steve Carrell in the 40 Year Old Virgin.  Then I say a few other choice words, and he just responds, “ahhhh…..now we see the real you come out”.  I’m thinking no, this is not the real me, this is the holy batman I’m about to give birth through my foot me.  Before I know it, out of nowhere the tears go streaming down my face.  I am crying…..involuntarily crying….I can’t stop it.  It sucks.  I can’t remember being in this much pain before.  Poor Dr. Black, just looks at me and says “I’m sorry, I know this hurts, but I have to do it if you want to get better.  If it makes you feel better my ex-wife used to have major foot problems, and every time I worked on her feet she always cried.”  Hmmmm, I am thinking to myself, there’s probably a reason that “wife” was preceded by “ex” in that previous statement. 

Anyway, this torture goes on for about 15 minutes (might have been less, but it seemed like forever) and it’s finally over.  I just knew I wasn’t going to be able to stand up, but to my surprise when I put weight on my foot it actually felt better.  I was able to run 5 miles on it the next morning.  I have continued to stretch, exercise, ice, and heat the foot, and it has improved some.  I go back for even more torture tonight.  Wish me luck!

If you want something to make you laugh, check out the pic from my last blog post.  Hysterical. :)

Frisky Reindeer & HBBC Updates

Last weekend I had my first ever 22 mile run and it really took it out of me!  I have been having foot pain, IT band pain, you name it, it hurts on me right now.  So, luckily this weekend my long run was only 13 miles.  Who knew I would ever get to the place where I could put 13 miles and "only" in the same sentence.  That feels pretty good.

Anyway, I was just running around my neighborhood on Saturday, and as I was approaching the 1 mile mark on my my run I came across a couple of reindeer in some random person's front yard that apparently got a little frisky overnight.  I couldn't help but laugh and take a picture.  I was hoping I wouldn't get caught taking the picture so they didn't think it was me who re-arranged their poor reindeer.  And although I thought it was pretty hilarious, I was also hoping that they didn't have any kids.  I wouldn't want to be the parents who had to explain this situation.

This is my last real training week before Disney.  I have a 20 mile run on Saturday (Christmas Eve) and then it's taper time.  This time, in 3 weeks, I'll be (hopefully) posting my race report and will be able to officially say I'm a marathoner!

HBBC Update:

Last week I earned quite a few points since I started my week with a 22 miler!  Of course, I didn't run as much with the pain in my foot, so I biked alot more instead.  My week looked something like this:

Miles Run/Walked:  31 Miles = 31 points
Miles Biked:  42 miles = 14 points
Hours Spent Weight Training: 1 hour 20 minutes = 5 points
Days I got in 7 fruits/veggies: 4 days = 4 points

Points Total = 54!  Woot, Woot!

I've gotten a total of 194 points so far, which seems like alot, but I'm in the advanced group and there are some people who are earning like 80 points a week....no way I can compete with them.  Plus this is my final week of hard training and then I move in to taper mode so my points will go down significantly.  That's ok though, I've had a great time doing this and it's helped keep me accountable and focused on eating better!